HOUSTON - University of Houston women's basketball coach Todd Buchanan announced Wednesday the 2013-14 schedule, highlighted by 15 home games and 14 contests against postseason squads from a year ago, including the NCAA champion and runner-up.

The Cougars enter their inaugural season in the new American Athletic Conference that features five teams that reached the postseason in 2013, including national champion UConn and runner-up Louisville. Houston officially kicks off its new era against UCF on Dec. 28 at Hofheinz Pavilion.

"We're incredibly excited about competing in the American Athletic Conference this season, which is arguably the toughest league in the nation," Buchanan said. "We'll have a marquee home schedule between our league games and some of our non-conference matchups, and will need our `Sixth Man' at Hofheinz behind us more than ever."

Houston will play an exciting non-conference slate that includes four postseason teams from a season ago and four contests against opponents from the Southeastern Conference and Pac-12, including in-state foe Texas A&M.

The Cougars begin the 2013-14 slate with a pair of rematches from last season, hosting Mississippi State at Hofheinz Pavilion on Nov. 8 before traveling to face Northwestern State on Nov. 13.

On Nov. 17, Houston welcomes the Aggies into Hofheinz Pavilion at 1:30 p.m., as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball squad, which will take on Lehigh at 4 p.m., in the Legends Classic. The Cougars will meet Texas A&M for the first time since Dec. 30, 2003, when Chandi Jones and company edged out a 46-40 victory.

The Cougars follow up with a home contest against North Texas on Nov. 20 before traveling to Omaha, Neb., three days later for a rematch with Creighton.

Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Houston will host its annual David Jones Memorial Classic, honoring the late assistant coach, where it will welcome Kent State (Nov. 30) and Prairie View A&M (Dec. 1) to Hofheinz Pavilion.

The Cougars will host their final home non-conference matchup against Washington on Dec. 4 before taking to the road for three rematches from last season against Alabama (Dec. 8), Texas State (Dec. 15) and cross-town rival Rice (Dec. 20).

Houston will play all nine members of The American in a home-and-away series, continuing rivalries with UCF, SMU and Memphis while facing Rutgers, UConn and Temple for the first time in program history.

With UConn and Louisville ending the 2013 season ranked No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, the Cougars potentially have an opportunity to host a top-five opponent for the first time since hosting No. 2 Georgia on Dec. 5, 1999. The Cougars have hosted the nation's top-ranked team in Hofheinz on four occasions, all against Texas (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984).

POSTSEASON INFORMATION
The 2014 Women's Basketball Championship will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Friday, March 7 through Monday, March 10. All 10 teams in the league will participate in the championship with seeding based on regular-season finishes. The top four seeds will receive byes to the quarterfinal round.

The tournament winner will earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The semifinals will be televised on ESPNU, while the championship will be on ESPN or ESPN2. First round and quarterfinal games will be televised, with specific coverage plans to be released.

The Conference's women's basketball tournament has been one of the nation's strongest and most successful. Previously held in Hartford, Conn., the BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship was the nation's attendance leader for nine straight years. The tournament produced 23 NCAA Final Four appearances, including Louisville and Connecticut in 2013, and nine national champions, including the Huskies' title this past season.

SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are now on sale in the Athletics Ticket Office starting as low as $100 for general admission seating. Season tickets for floor seating are available for $250.

Fans can also purchase flex tickets, using all 15 tickets for one home game, one ticket for all 15 contests or any combination in between.

To renew and purchase season tickets, fans can call 713-GO-COOGS (462-6647) or 877-COUGAR-5 (268-4275) or visit the Athletics Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Athletics/Alumni Center from 8 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by online at UHCougars.com and following the appropriate links.

To support student-athlete scholarships through Cougar Pride for the upcoming season, fans should contact Cougar Pride at 713-743-GOUH or email cougarpride@uh.edu. Fans also can visit UHCougars.com and click the Cougar Pride tab for more information.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
The Cougars return four of five starters and nine of 10 letterwinners from last year's team, accounting for 74 percent of last season's total scoring.

Despite playing with five freshmen and nine total newcomers last season, Todd Buchanan's rebuilt squad won 10 more contests than the previous year and knocked off the top two teams in Conference USA during the regular season.

Sophomore forward Marche' Amerson was named to the C-USA All-Freshman squad after ranking second on the team with 9.1 points per game and 10.1 points per contest in league play. Amerson set a freshman record by starting in all 30 contests and placed in the top 10 of six other freshman records.

Yasmeen Thompson returns for her senior year after making a splash in her season at Houston, where she led C-USA and ranked 10th all-time in program history in field-goal percentage (.553) while adding 8.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.